[Nix-dev] multi-user / RHEL6.5/ no root -- "nix-env -i" trying to grab a lock file outside of "per-user"

[Ryan Newton]

Whew... after all that, it looks like the problem was simply where
~/.nix-profile/ was pointing.  It was pointing to
/nix/var/nix/profiles/default...
 I did not know that nix-env update the profile pointed to by that symlink.
 But apparently that's what it does.



On Thu, Aug 21, 2014 at 12:18 AM, Ryan Newton <rrnewton at indiana.edu> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm an enthusiastic recent convert to nix.  I'm trying to get it set up
> across our university's shared RHEL 6.5 linux setup so that my students and
> I can use it for building all our research software.  I've convinced the
> sysadmins to symlink /nix/ to an NSF location (for now) so that we can get
> started, but I can't get things working in multiuser mode
> (NIX_REMOTE=daemon) with a special build-user that is non-root.
>
> For example:
>
>   * user "builder" -- own /nix, runs nix-daemon, non-root
>   * user "steve" -- non-root, can write to
> /nix/var/nix/daemon-socket/socket
>
> Actually, if steve runs "nix-env -i hello", it works as far as building
> the package in the store, but then at the end it fails when trying to
> update the profiles:
>
>     replacing old `hello-2.9'
>     installing `hello-2.9'
>     error: opening lock file `/nix/var/nix/profiles/default.lock':
> Permission denied
>
> Why should it be going for "profiles/" instead of
> "profiles/per-user/steve/"?  Why does the user account need to do any of
> the locking at all?  Shouldn't the daemon control all access to the "/nix"
> directory in the multi-user setup?
>
> I messed around with the perms in that profiles directory, making it
> group-writable (for a group that includes "steve" and "builder"), but that
> just gets me to a different error:
>
>     error: creating symlink from `/nix/var/nix/profiles/.new_default' to
> `default-47-link': File exists
>
> Seems like a lose-lose situation -- I can play with setting/unsetting the
> sticky bit, "chmod 1775", on that profiles/ dir but the best I can't avoid
> hitting some error.  I think the problem originates in "profile.d/nix.sh"
> which was created during installation and reads:
>
>     _NIX_DEF_LINK=/nix/var/nix/profiles/default
>
> Should that instead say profiles/per-user/$USER/default ?  I don't want to
> mutate a config file in the nix store, so hopefully there is some way to
> change this NIX_DEF_LINK during the install process?  Or build an alternate
> one and point my ~/.nix-profile/etc/profile.d there?  What's the best
> approach?
>
> Thanks in advance for your help,
>   -Ryan
>
> P.S. This is with nix-1.7.
>
>
>
> --
> Ryan R. Newton
> (812) 856-4205
> Asst. Professor
> Indiana University - School of Informatics & Computing
> Lindley Hall 230H
> http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~rrnewton/
>
>


-- 
Ryan R. Newton
(812) 856-4205
Asst. Professor
Indiana University - School of Informatics & Computing
Lindley Hall 230H
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~rrnewton/
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